Hair curler



Patented June 23, 1936 PATENT OFFICEVY HAIR, CURLER Joseph Charles,Hammersmith, London, England Application July 10,

1955, Serial No. 30,682

In Great Britain April 30, 1935 3 Claims.

This invention relates to hair curlers having a rod rotatable inside atube, said rod having a hair attaching nipple outside one end of thetube. The object of the invention is to provide a simplifiedconstruction which has no working parts that may become loose or binddue to wear or corrosion such as is set up in the type of hair curlerabove referred to, and which ensures a positive grip between the twobodies in one direction without the necessity of providing ribs, groovesor other toothed elements.

According to the invention the curler consists of a tube into which iscompressed the limbs of a resilient hook member or the equivalent, theend of one limb of which projects laterally at a small angle from thegeneral plane containing the limbs of the book so that by rotating thehook member in a direction with said projecting end trailing the limb,said projecting end, because of its engagement with the tube, tends totwist and wedge the limbs together within the tube whereas in theopposite direction of rotation the engagement of said projecting end onthe tube prevents such a twisting tendency so that no wedging actiontakes place, whereby the hook member is permitted to run free.

In its preferred and simplest form, the hook member which may have theends of its limbs slightly splayed away from each other in the generalplane thereof, consists of a resilient metal rod or wire bent to formthe limbs with one end thereof bent to provide a laterally projectingportion in the manner described above.

The outer face of the laterally projecting end is preferably flattenedso as to give a larger surface in contact with the inner surface of thetube and thereby a better and more positive action.

The accompanying drawing illustrates an embodiment of the invention, andin said drawing:-

Figure 1 is an elevation of the complete curler;

Figures 2 and 3 are views at right-angles to one another of the hookmember; and

Figure 4 is an enlarged section on m-:c of Figure 1.

Thus in an improved hair curler embodying the wedging action of thepresent invention, the body of the curler will be formed from a tube ofwhich one end is preferably bell mouthed or flared as at 2. The meansfor tightening the hair wound on the tube and holding the same inposition when tightened, will consist of a rod 3 one end of which isbent into a hook of which the free limb 4 has its end 5 bent. laterallyto provide for the aforesaid weclging action. The said end 5 stands awayfrom the general plane of the limbs at an angle less than a right-anglewhich it has been found gives best results. The other end of the rod 3is externally threaded at l to take a slotted nut or nipple 6 whichafter the rod has been passed through the tube l and the hook compressedthereinto, is screwed on to therod so as to prevent the same beingwithdrawn although allowing it free rotation in the direction whereinthe laterally projecting end 5 of the free limb 4 is leading, for thepurposes of tightening the hair upon the curler and holding it tight.

The one-way clutch action will be apparent from Figure 4. Normally thefree limb 4 is spaced away from the wall of the tube l except for thepoint of the end 5. When turning the rod 3 anti-clockwise the limb 4twists in relation to the main leg 3, bending at the crock of the hook,and assumes the broken-line position,

' wedging between the tube and rod 3. When, however, turning in theclockwise direction, the projection 5 keeps the main body of the freelimb 4 away from the tube, and itself freely slides around the innerface of the tube, preventing the Wedging action.

As in the preferred construction of such a curler the end of the tubeinto which thehook member is compressed is bell mouthed as at 2, thebight of the hook member will be correspondingly enlarged to abut thesides of the mouth and provide a better hand grip and prevent end playof the rod in the tube.

In operation a tress of hair is caught in the slot of the nipple andthen wound round the tube; after securing it to the tube in any suitableway the rod is twined relatively to the tube to tighten thehair-winding. Heat or/and solutions are applied in any suitable way.

With the wedging action of this invention, the inside of the tube withwhich the laterally projecting wedge member co-operates, can be smoothso that no special operations are required in the making of the tube,although, if desirable especially where an extremely heavy load has tobe taken, the inside of the tube can be suitably scored or grooved orotherwise provided with suitable teeth which engage with a cammedportion on the projecting end so that the latter slips over the teethwhenleading, but locks therein when reverse rotation is applied.

I claim:

1. A hair curler consisting of a tube and a rod rotatable therein,hair-engaging means on one end of the rod and a hook on the other end,said hook having a resilient free limb compressed against the rod insidethe tube, and a projection on the extremity of the limb extendinglaterally out of the general plane of the hook engaging the inside ofthe tube, said projection keeping the limb normally spaced from the tubeand permitting rotation of the rod relatively to the tube in onedirection only.

2. A hair curler device according to claim 1 wherein the outer face ofthe laterally projecting end is flattened so as to give a larger surfacein contact with the inner surface of the tube and thereby a better andmore positive action.

3. A hair curler comprising a tube, a rod rotatable therein, hairengaging means on one end of said rod, the other end portion of said rodbeing bent upon itself to provide a hook member having a resilient limb,said limb being pressed toward the rod and being disposed within saidtube, and a projection on said limb extending laterally relative to aplane including the rod and said limb into engagement with said tube, sothat by rotating the hook member in a direction with said projectiontrailing said limb, the engagement between said projection and the tubecauses said limb to tend. to twist and force the limb toward the rod,thereby resisting rotation of the hook member, and so that by rotatingthe hook member in the opposite direction, the engagement of saidprojection with the tube prevents said twisting tendency and therebypermits the hook member to rotate freely within the tube.

JOSEPH CHARLES.

